Summit for Examining the Potential for Crosscutting Concepts to Support Three-Dimensional Science Learning

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This project will convene a group of scholars in K-12 science education for a workshop that will lay fundamental conceptual groundwork for research on how crosscutting concepts (CCCs) can inform science teaching and learning. CCCs, along with disciplinary core ideas and scientific practices, reflect a new vision of science proficiency expressed in recent national and state science education frameworks and standards. This vision integrates the "knowing" and "doing" of authentic science and promotes knowledge and skills necessary for participating productively in society as a citizen. The primary aims of the summit are to (1) develop preliminary theoretical models for learning that can underpin research programs on CCCs, (2) map the terrain of existing research on CCCs, and (3) identify central issues that can guide research about the roles of CCCs in science teaching and learning. These aims will help the field move beyond challenges that it currently faces, such as ambiguous terminology, a lack of clear theoretical consensus, and a lack of empirical grounding. This project is funded by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program. The summit will enable scholars who are experienced with studying CCCs to discuss the diverse perspectives that exist about the nature and purpose of CCCs, as well as their potential to inform science teaching and learning. Summit participants will include researchers, curriculum developers, school practitioners, and other stakeholders, so as to include diverse perspectives on conceptual and empirical research, classroom implementation, and teacher professional learning. Summit activities will focus on the authoring of position papers that will be presented, peer-critiqued, and refined over the course of the 3-day event. The agenda will address specific topics such as how CCCs can support the integration of science disciplines (including engineering), assessing student proficiency with CCCs, and viewing the CCCs across grade bands. Insights will be published in a proceedings that will articulate key issues and challenges; which will be made freely available to the science education community.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.